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Sunday, February 24, 2008

Now I bring home SMALL amounts of sand and it's in my carry-on where there's no question about what it is. Where are you headed next? (For the next SSO!) Chris

I wish I hadn't brought home that sand. Oh my gosh did it smell nasty when I got home and opened up that plastic bag! Blech!

And let's see here... I'm not sure where I'm going next. Possibly New Jersey; possibly the nuthouse; if I'm lucky, to bed.

I love Kelli's "I think of recipes as more of guides. This dish is kind of an amalgam of a couple different recipes." :D Hehe....Recipes are more like guidelines.....:) Liz's Random Thoughts http://lizsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/

LOL! Kelli's funny! And she tells the most amazing true stories about her life. Every time I think I've heard it all, she tops it with another wild tale. She has lived through some really incredible stuff in her short years. She needs to finish her book!!! (Hear that, Kelli?) Oh and she did post that recipe on her blog here.Ahhh, that was SOO funny! Thanks for that. Did you make any of those up? Brilliant! 2OutsideTheBox http://2outsidethebox.blogspot.com/

(This was about the phrases people googled which brought them to my blog.) Yes, yes I sat around one day and thought to myself, "what would be a really funny thing for someone to google in order to find my blog? How about playland pee pants! Yeah, that's the ticket!" LOL - I couldn't make that stuff up if I tried!

A whole bunch of you asked me how I found the keywords that people googled which brought them to my blog.

I use StatCounter.com. I really don't know much about this kind of stuff. I think I just googled stat counters and this popped up. There may be better ones out there. I really don't know. Anyway, I created a free account at statcounter.com. I can login there and see how many impressions my blog gets on any given day, how many of those hits are from new people and how many are repeat visits, what city/state/country they came from, what sites they came from, what keywords brought them to my site, and more. It's kind of fun checking out all that info.

OK, this may sound strange coming from a woman who has given birth to six kids, but I hate being pregnant. I find nothing fun about heartburn, sciatica, weight gain, aching hips and back, bleeding gums, stuffy nose, and giving myself shots in the abdomen twice a day. I think I'll pass.

You're in Australia, right? According to my son (the missing Kratt brother) possums live in Australia and Opossums are the only marsupial to live in North America. I found these pictures of the differences...

Opossum from North America - looks like a giant rat

Possum - prevalent in Australia - looks more like a bush baby.

This concludes our zoology lesson. Spin you later!

I wanna know, do which kid get along better with which one? Seems like Clay and Brooklyn are partners in crime :) Corrina

Hmmm, it depends on the day, or hour, or minute sometimes.

OH my GOSH! We had a lunar eclipse here too! We must be looking at the same moon! Weird. *lol* Thanks for making me laugh by saying that you had one there. Erica

Ha ha ha. Although I say stupid things on a regular (daily) basis, I wasn't totally dumb about this one. People in Australia couldn't see this eclipse and folks in parts of Asia and Alaska could only see a little bit of it.

Hi Dawn, I have a few question's for Sunday sound out. #1. How long have you and Joe been married?

Too long

#2. Did he propose to you in a unique way?

I don't remember.

#3. What time do you put the kiddo's to bed on school nights and weekends? Kristine in Michigan.

It doesn't matter when I send them to bed, it always takes another 2-3 hours before they actually fall asleep.

one recently caught possum, skinned and cut into small pieces (you can use roadkill scraped off the pavement but be sure it's fresh. If it's covered in flies, don't use it for this recipe. It would be better suited for Possum Hash)

I usually use this recipe for buttercream. I don't know if it's that good or not because I hate frosting. Other people tell me that they like it though.

2 1/2 pounds of 10X powdered sugar

3/4 - 1 c. water

1 t. salt

1 t. clear vanilla

1 t. almond extract

1/2 t. butter flavor

1 c. shortening

(You can use butter in place of the shortening; just omit the butter flavor. Or you can use half and half, butter and shortening. This will not produce a white-white frosting however. Use the shortening if you want pure white like for wedding cakes.)

I dump 2 # sugar in my mixer. Then I add the salt, vanilla, butter, and almond flavorings. I put 3/4 c. water in and blend on low until combined. Scrape down the bowl and add the shortening. Blend until mixed well. Add the last half pound of sugar and blend some more. If the icing is too thick, add a little cold water a T. at a time until it's the desired consistency. Don't overmix or mix on high. You don't want to beat a lot of air into it and you definitely don't want a cloud of powdered sugar to coat every surface in your house.

A crumb coat is a thin layer of buttercream (or you can use other things like piping gel or apricot glaze, but I use buttercream) that you apply to your cake. Any crumbs that come up get stuck in this thin coat of buttercream creating a smooth, crumb-free surface for icing. After letting the crumb coat dry, carefully ice the cake with enough buttercream that you don't scrape down to the surface of the crumb coat thus tearing up bits of cake. I don't think that makes a lot of sense. It's a lot easier to show someone than it is to explain it in writing.

I make my icing smooth by letting it set up just a bit, then using a smooth, untextured paper towel, I gently rub over the surface of the cake. Again, hard to explain in writing. The next time I make a cake, I'll try to remember to video tape it.

How in the world do you find the time for such cake masterpieces? Have you figured out how to add hours to the day?? haggardmom http://haggardmom.blogspot.com/

No and I've been working around the clock to try and figure that out! If anyone here knows how to add hours to your day, please, please, please (I'm begging you!) let me know!

Wow!!! Excellent job! Did you take a class? I can't even get icing on the cake without tearing the cake up. Angie

I did actually. I took 2 continuing education cake decorating classes at a local college for fun about 13 years ago.

Is there anything you CAN'T do?!?!!! fourmonsters

Let's see... I can't finish everything I need to do on a daily basis. I can't stop procrastinating. I can't lose more than 3 pounds apparently. I can't sing. Seriously. It's scary how bad I sound. I'd make a Youtube video of me "singing", but I had to promise the US government that I would never sing in public. Part of some noise pollution bill or something...

Here's MY question...did your red frosting taste bitter? If not, how did you manage to get Red Red (and not pink) without the taste being just awful? Stretch Mark Mama http://stretchmarkmama.blogspot.com/

Nope. I used no-taste red coloring from Wilton. Totally not Feingold approved, btw.

Question for the Sunday Shout Out: What do you do when all the kids want a "corner piece" of cake? (I try to keep some extra buttercream in the fridge so that all of my pieces are corner pieces...lol!) Kim W.

Actually, they don't all ask for a corner piece, but if they did I'd probably say something nice and comforting like, "Eat it and like it! There are starving people around the world who would be thankful for any piece of cake!"

Do you make cakes for people outside your family? You could have a whole (very profitable) side business going!! BarbJ

I used to, but it was really not profitable. I takes a loooong time to do each cake and at the prices I charged, it was so not worth it. I began to dislike making cakes when I was doing them every weekend. Plus, people tend to frown when they pick up their cake and there are little kid fingerprints in it.

I'm with the cupcake makers - and my poor Jib had to have her cupcakes decorated by her big sisters, because I waited til the last minute and didn't have time! I'm a terrible mother... Julie http://juliekirbyblog.blogspot.com/

You're not at all a terrible mother! I just really enjoy making cakes for my kids, but let me tell ya, there have been many a time when I had Savannah slap some frosting and sprinkles on cupcakes because I just didn't have the time or energy to make a cake for some function.

Ewww, no cake here. I'd prefer a birthday tirimisu or a birthday cookie or a birthday margarita thankyouverymuch.

YOU'RE MY HERO. (remember that line from Ferris Bueller?) Margee

But of course!!! LOL!

For Sunday:What are (in your pictured opinion) the best birthday cakes you have made? And do you like to eat/work with fondant? Chelf http://chelfspace.blogspot.com/

I've used fondant in the past, but I'm not real proficient at it. I think fondant, when done well, looks awesome and you can do so much with it, but I don't really care to eat it. Wilton makes a premade, packaged fondant that tastes like glue. My own recipe is a million times better, but I still find it strange to eat a cake topped with something chewy.

I don't know that these are my best cakes, but here are a few pictures I found...

Hmmm you really can't see the details of the lace and the morning glories. Oh well.

Here's the other Nemo cake I was talking about.

Sorry it's crooked. This one was one of the best. It had a removable corsage of gum paste flowers and ribbon. It was covered in fondant and had ribbon insertion, and delicate string work (that's hard to see in the picture).

I'm ready!

A wedding cake - hard to see detail

A princess castle cake I made for Savannah a long time ago. Ugh, I wish the detail showed up better. Oh well. You get the general idea.

Picking up my jaw from the floor! I CANNOT believe you made all those cakes.....They're AMAZING! Not that YOU yourself can't do amazing things (you do just by making me have to read your blog everyday. That's the 1 thing I don't procrastinate about! I love coming here) But I had no idea you had that in you. You're a pro!

Wow! That Cheeseburger Cake is amazing. Umm, I think you had better post something that went wrong in your household today if you are going to post all that cake decorating talent in one place. You are a very fun, well rounded person it seems!

Thanks for all the cake tips, but something tells me that no matter how closely I follow your instructions, I will never.ever.ever come up with a cake as nice as those! You are definitely talented! I live too far away from a store to buy my kids' cakes, but I think from now on I might just hand over a jar of sprinkles and a can of frosting and let them decorate their own!

Thank you for explaining how crumb icing works. Getting the crumbs in my cake is my worst problem, but I love decorating. Fortunately my kids expectations are not very high like my talent for cake decorating. LOL

Thanks so much for explaining the crumb coat and smooth frosting technique. I have to make two cakes this weekend, one for my nephew's baptism and one for my daughter's second birthday. I'm going to try your recipe for frosting, I usually use the Wilton recipe. I would love to see your video next time you decorate a cake - with 6 kids I'm guessing that won't be too far in the future.

Hey Dawn! I really love reading your Sunday posts!Those cakes are fabulous! LOVE the burger!Ok, so if you head to NJ, let me know! If you think life with 6 is crazy, I'll show you how bad it gets when you add 3 more...ok, so maybe I could just take you to Atl. City and we can get drunk and pretend we have no kids. Sound good???

Great cakes! Speaking of cakes, have you seen the one where the bride had a cake baked in her own likeness? http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/01/07/cake.irpt/index.html It brings all kids of strange thoughts to mind...

i totally know what you mean about random searches that people run and somehow end up at your site! the funniest search that brought someone to my page was "baked cheetos make your farts stink". hahaha.

Wow. you made those cakes, there is some talent there. Maybe if the book thing doesnt work out for you (which i am sure that it will with this kind of writing) than you sould go into cake decorating, i like the crooked one with the removeable corsage.

Wow I am impressed with all your cakes especially the hambuger cake - it looks good enough to EAT!!!!! hahahahaha- when I was a nanny I tried a swimming pool cake with Jelly - or you would say Jello.....and another was a orange tiger - that turned out yellow....!!!!! hence I'm not making them anymore....

Also in New Zealand we have possums...they are NOT loved at all...you don't get your driver's license unless you hit one!!!!! Some Australian brought one over years and years ago and now we are overrun with them..they are killing all our birds and wildlife....when I visit Australia I'm like...kill it, kill it and all those crazy Aussies say NO NO they are cute!!!!!

I love your blog. A few weeks ago when I read about Julian's passing, I took it harder than I thought. It just broke my heart. I cried for a few hours until I fell asleep (late nights, bad cold, husband out of town, 3 kids were also contributing factors). Then I decided to take a hot bath. Note to Self: when you turn on the hot water to your deep jacuzzi (no upper drain) tub in a very tired, and sick state of mind...DO NOT WALK AWAY...yep, I flooded the house. I have an 'office' in the house and went to send a quick email..and forgot about my hot bath. It flooded my master bedroom two closets the master bathroom and the baby's room all on the ground floor (No children were at home...thank god). I discovered the flood after about an hour or so later when I finally got up to get a drink of water. Needless to say..I find so much comfort in your blog...because I know I'm not the only tired, sick, overworked Mom to have done something so incredibly stupid!! Insurance covered it all..in fact, my husband (who was in Japan and came home after the fans were finally removed 4 days later); actually did all of the repairs and we 'made' money on whole thing. Anyway, I found a rotten banana in the couch cushions today while cleaning the den...the 'baby'..(my 27 month old) must have decided he didn't want to finish it and just tucked it into the couch...again...thank you, thank you, thank you...for letting me feel like I'm normal...how you do it with six kids, I'll never know. I can barely cope with me three..but the stories we'll have when they're older are going to be so great!! Keep sharing your stories....

Okay, Dawn, you rock! Those cakes are beautiful. I'm sure that your Grandma loved the morning glories (reminds me of when I was a kid, my dad had them climbing up string!)

Anyway, I do have the solution for more time in the day - have you seen Wicked? The backdrop shows a clock with 13 hours. I WANT THAT CLOCK! I know with an extra 2 hours a day, that's 14 hours a week, 728 hours a year - I could be so much more organized (or actually get some sleep!) Since you're in the greater Chicago area, maybe you can get those clocks for both of us! =)

Hi Dawn!I love your blog and enjoy reading it whenever I can (when my kids allow me to, that is...)!I have seen your notes about your son having AD/HD, but, I was wondering... Are you aware that YOU have AD/HD yourself? LOL! You are classic Adult AD/HD! If you ever have the time (ha-ha! I know you have tons of it...), you should do a little research on it. I am no psychiatrist, but I do have AD/HD myself. I can see you have many of the same challenges (and gifts!) that I and other adults with AD/HD have. It's not a curse, but a gift that makes you the creative and unique person that you are.Good for you that you are trying to keep your son's AD/HD on the right track so he can lead a fulfilling and productive life. There is way too much stigma attached to this condition, so kudos to you for being open and honest about your struggles with his medications, diet, etc. You are absolutely right that every child/person is unique and require different measures to keep their AD/HD in check. If anyone else judges you unfairly about your choices, I hope they go get bit by a monkey... LOL!Best Regards, Kristine from Rochester, NY.

Cool! 1st comment :)You have a nice talent for these cakes--thanks for sharing the pictures. This is something I've always thought about doing, but then I figured I usually don't have the time or the patience. (I'm one behind you in the child dept--I have 5) Maybe some day!

You're right - and the reason is because it's human nature to think "I can do that for much less." Unfortunately, they always want to "borrow" the pans, piping tubes, etc. from you to do it! Funny, thing, I've never heard of these folks going to a bakery or Jewel and asking if they could "borrow" their equipment so they could bake and decorate a cake "cheaper."

Hi Dawn, I Love those cake pictures! Although I took cake decorating class's my cakes are not That great. I guess my talent would be charcoal drawings. Also I have been thinking about making you a funny vacume cleaner cover for your vacume. Mine sits out all the time too. Kristine in Michigan.

Your cakes are amazing! I just made my very first from-scratch cake this weekend (I made the frosting, too). It was very labor intensive and the cake came out a little lopsided, as the top layer didn't stay straight on the bottom layer. It was fun, anyway!

Hmmmm, let me try this again, I had a comment typed out and hit submit but it is lost somewhere in internet land! Anyway, you have done an amazing job on all of your cakes!!! They are simply gorgeous!!! I know exactly what you mean about them not being very profitable. They just take way too much time. My mom did cakes all through my childhood and I saw how much time they took to make, and then the mess you have afterwards! She taught me how to do it, but I had no interest in doing them on a constant basis. My husband thinks I should. I don't think he understands the work involved in them!!! I bet your kids love the cakes you make for them b/c they are excellent!! Again, Great job!!!

You are one talented lady!! I loved all the cake pictures... it makes me hungry, though.

How is the play coming along? Are you finding it to be a good release/time off or is it another thing on your to-do list? Hey, your husbannd could video your scenes and then you could post it on your blog for all your readers. What do you think??

I know that you are told this countless times... but... thank you for providing all your readers with a hearty laugh everyday. It is sooo good for the soul!!

I'm not sure I could eat that cake that looks like a cheeseburger. I think it would be weird. Or that could just be me. Either way, you're cakes are awesome. I wish I was that motivated/talented/whatever.

Those cakes are amazing! I'm very jealous of your "cake talent"! My 2nd daughter is having her 1st birthday this coming weekend... it's off to Wal-mart to order a cake!Jenniferhttp://www.themilesfamilyadventures.blogspot.com

I´m suitably impressed. :) My mom and sister make incredible cakes like yours, but my attempt at a firetruck cake for my son´s second birthday turned out pretty lopsided and weird.

I´ve been reading your blog since August and I just love it. I only have two boys, and they are still very small, but they wreak a lot of havoc, so your tales of moldy sandwiches and such totally hit home for me!

love the cakes, my favourite was the cheeseburger but I dont know if I could eat it, I have a weird thing about eating things that look like one thing but taste like another, oh just me being weird, ok!

I know a small way to make more time in the day! If like me and my family you like your tv programmes, addicts to ER, lost etc but we have a rule that as soon as the commercials come on, everyone has to run nad do something, put dishes in the dishwasher, vacuum the lounge floor, something, anything thats helps with the house, you would be suprised how much just one person can get done in 3-4 minutes, times that by 4 adverts in an hours show and by how many people in the household and you get a whole lot done and still get to watch the show!

I am in absolute awe of your cakes. Mine are so very lame in comparison. I'm lucky if I can get the frosting to go on evenly, and generally decoration is piped on lettering and maybe a really horrible scribble-picture. :) I agree on the fondant front... a lot of wedding cake people tried to push it on us, but I was strict about nothing on the cake I couldn't eat except the topper. (And I eat buttercream by the spoonful when given the opportunity... explains my voluptuousness. :) )

Spin you later! I just wanted you to know that I got the reference! My 7 year old (future paleontologist and movie director) loves that movie series.

I Love your blog, I have read your blog for a long time now but that comment made me come out and say something. When you posted that video of your son climbing your fridge I sent it to my friends, a few even asked if it was my son Daniel!

I generally go to the bakery department for our cakes. Now, with my youngest's last party - I literally bought the cupcakes at the SuperWally ON THE WAY to the place where we were having the party. Can you imagine if I'd decided to host the party INSIDE my house? I'd have met them at the driveway, escorted them to the back yard and told everyone to pee behind the shed because the toilet was out of order!

Hi Dawn - wow , those cakes are just amazing. I'll pick my jaw up of the floor in a second :)

And a point on your Possums/Opossums. The ones in Australia and in New Zealand are actually properly called Opossums as well - it's just common usage where we drop the "O" off the front. So they must be different breeds here and in the US.

Interestingly, they are pests here in NZ (money is good for their pelts.... super soft!) yet in Australia, I believe that they might be a protected species.

Hi Dawn! I've been reading your blog for a number of months now, but never commented. Thanks for keeping all of us laughing daily!

This weekend I was doing a little cleaning and I came across January 2008's version of Redbook and saw that there was a little blurb about you and your blog. I'm sure you know about that mention, but if not I'll gladly send you my copy...it has a math problem written on the cover since the little boy I nanny for is learning multiplication - but it's all yours if you want it!

I was totally speechless when I saw the cakes you made!! YOu are one crazy woman huh? How did you manage to make cakes sooooooo beautiful and creative!! Okay, I am not showing this to my boyfriend, so he will still think I am a very good cake maker! Corrina

WOW, Dawn. I am so truly impressed. When looking at the Nemo cake, I sort of thought this was something I could learn to do. Ditto when I saw your Grandma cake. Then I saw the rest. Nope, I'm out! My cakes taste good, and I think I'll have to stick with that (unless my son or daughter has a baseball theme again -- I did figure out how to make pretty cool looking baseballs for the first birthday).

Did you take the class at Harper? COD? MCC? Next fall when my daughter goes to (more) preschool, I want to take some classes somewhere, and this would be a way cool one to do.

WOW! Can't believe those cakes! I was proud of myself for building a very simple "Radiator Springs" cake (just billboard and Cozy Cone and Luigi's with tire tower) - I didn't have the guts to try to do McQueen, I just used the little plastic figures.

Your cakes are awesome! My mother in law loves to decorate fancy cakes. I just don't have the patience so my kids usually get a lovely store bought special. My mom always says to take pictures and document the good things you do for your kids because they won't believe you are a good mom unless you document!!! Thanks for your great blog reminding us moms that all of the craziness is normal and totally worth it. :-)

Oh, My Gosh Dawn!Your cakes are awesome! I can't believe you find the time to make such gorgeous cakes AND write a book, never mind raising six kids. I was raving over your cakes and showed them to my husband. He said, "WOW!" Then he said, "Your kids are grown, you don't work and you can't even make dinner." I think I'll go slither off and find out what's in the refrigerator that I can throw in the microwave. I'd really rather sit here and read your blog. You always make me smile :-)

I've only commented once before, but I do visit often. I can't wait to read your book (I need some good laughs in my life, and I only have 3 boys). Thanks also for including the fun photos of your cakes. I love making cakes and seeing those others have done. I also wanted to say, I shouldn't have shown my 3 year old the video you posted of Clay getting cookies!

Yeah! I made it to Sunday Soundoff!! Don't despair about what you "can't" do.(which is very minimal, by the way) And the procratination thing, well just use my motto: I may be a procrastinator, but at least I'm a pro at something! -I swear I am going to make t-shirts and sell them. Or maybe hust make them for my family for our next family reunion, you know, to dress them alike so everyone knows what family they belong too. LOL Snort!